Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 41,652 Shares of Hawkins, Inc. $HWKN

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,504,831 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 41,652 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Hawkins worth $274,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hawkins by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 478,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $67,981,000 after acquiring an additional 5,110 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Hawkins by 50.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 282,349 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $40,122,000 after purchasing an additional 94,503 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Hawkins by 130.7% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 149,397 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $21,229,000 after buying an additional 84,651 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Hawkins by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 148,173 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $21,055,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Hawkins by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 137,712 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,163,000 after buying an additional 18,388 shares in the last quarter. 69.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HWKN has been the subject of several research reports. BWS Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Hawkins in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Hawkins from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hawkins from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hawkins

In other news, Director James A. Faulconbridge acquired 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $129.29 per share, with a total value of $193,935.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 50,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,581,766.03. The trade was a 3.04% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hawkins Stock Performance

Shares of HWKN stock opened at $149.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.35. Hawkins, Inc. has a one year low of $98.30 and a one year high of $186.15. The company’s 50-day moving average is $146.33 and its 200 day moving average is $152.97.

Hawkins (NASDAQ:HWKN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $244.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $252.51 million. Hawkins had a return on equity of 16.85% and a net margin of 7.75%. Sell-side analysts expect that Hawkins, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hawkins Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Hawkins’s payout ratio is currently 19.24%.

Hawkins Profile

Hawkins, Inc (NASDAQ: HWKN) is a specialty chemical company that produces and distributes water-treatment and industrial chemicals across North America. Founded in 1938 and headquartered in Roseville, Minnesota, the company has built a network of manufacturing facilities and distribution centers that serve municipal, industrial and commercial customers. As a publicly traded entity, Hawkins leverages its long-standing presence in the chemical distribution industry to provide tailored solutions for complex water-treatment challenges and specialty chemical needs.

Hawkins’ product portfolio encompasses a wide range of chemicals, including sodium hypochlorite, sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, chlorine, acids and specialty blends.